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Table 3 Factors associated with alcohol use in pregnancy

From: Attitudes and behaviour predict women's intention to drink alcohol during pregnancy: the challenge for health professionals

 

Drank alcohol in the last pregnancy (n = 700) n (%)

Intend to drink alcohol if planning pregnancy (n = 1103) n (%)

Intend to drink alcohol if pregnant (n = 1103) n (%)

 

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Participant characteristics

      

Age

      

   18 to 29 years

49 (38.9)

77 (61.1)

125 (28.5)

314 (71.5)

73 (16.6)

366 (83.4)

   30 to 45 years

190 (33.1)

384 (66.9)

223 (33.6)

441 (66.4)

188 (28.3)

476 (71.7)

Birth history

      

   Nulliparous

  

109 (27.0)

294 (73.0)

56 (13.9)

347 (86.1)

   Given birth

239 (34.1)

461 (65.9)

239 (34.1)

461 (65.9)

205 (29.3)

495 (70.7)

Highest education level

      

   Less than year 12

41 (26.3)

115 (73.7)

39 (22.4)

135 (77.6)

36 (20.7)

138 (79.3)

   Completed year 12

42 (37.8)

69 (62.2)

72 (28.6)

180 (71.4)

50 (19.8)

202 (80.2)

   Post school qualification below bachelor degree

83 (31.6)

180 (68.4)

123 (32.1)

260 (67.9)

87 (22.7)

296 (77.3)

   Bachelor degree or higher

73 (42.9)

97 (57.1)

114 (38.8)

180 (61.2)

88 (29.9)

206 (70.1)

Knowledge

      

"Drinking alcohol in pregnancy can affect the unborn child"

      

Agree

206 (31.9)

439 (68.1)

305 (29.8)

718 (70.2)

223 (21.8)

800 (78.2)

Disagree

33 (60.0)

22 (40.0)

43 (53.8)

37 (46.3)

38 (47.5)

42 (52.5)

"Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can lead to life-long disabilities in a child"

      

Agree

173 (30.7)

390 (69.3)

264 (28.6)

660 (71.4)

192 (20.8)

732 (79.2)

Disagree

66 (48.2)

71 (51.8)

84 (46.9)

95 (53.1)

69 (38.5)

110 (61.5)

Attitudes

      

"Pregnant women should not drink alcohol"

      

Agree

127 (23.5)

414 (76.5)

199 (22.5)

686 (77.5)

132 (14.9)

753 (85.1)

Disagree

112 (70.4)

47 (29.6)

149 (68.3)

69 (31.7)

129 (59.2)

89 (40.8)

Negative attitudes towards alcohol in pregnancy

120 (23.0)

401 (77.0)

185 (22.8)

627 (77.2)

128 (15.8)

684 (84.2)

Neutral or positive attitudes towards alcohol in pregnancy

116 (64.7)

63 (35.3)

130 (59.9)

87 (40.1)

110 (50.7)

107 (49.3)

Alcohol consumption and smoking

      

Drank alcohol in last pregnancy

      

Yes

  

176 (73.6)

63 (26.4)

187 (78.2)

52 (21.8)

No

  

29 (6.3)

432 (93.7)

52 (11.3)

409 (88.7)

Frequency of current alcohol consumption

      

   Less than 1 day per week

307 (78.9)

82 (21.1)

128 (22.5)

442 (77.5)

103 (18.1)

467 (81.9)

   1 to 4 days per week

139 (53.5)

121 (46.5)

181 (39.2)

281 (60.8)

128 (27.7)

334 (72.3)

   5 or more days per week

15 (29.4)

36 (70.6)

39 (54.9)

32 (45.1)

30 (42.3)

41 (57.7)

Maximum number of standard drinks in a day in the last 12 months

      

   0 drinks

4 (4.1)

94 (95.9)

19 (14.6)

111 (85.4)

20 (15.4)

110 (84.6)

   1 to 2 drinks

46 (31.3)

101 (68.7)

53 (29.3)

128 (70.7)

43 (23.8)

138 (76.2)

   3 to 6 drinks

109 (40.2)

162 (59.8)

123 (32.2)

259 (67.8)

96 (25.1)

286 (74.9)

   7 or more drinks

80 (43.5)

104 (56.5)

153 (37.3)

257 (62.7)

102 (24.9)

308 (75.1)

Smoked in last pregnancy

      

Yes

47 (41.6)

66 (58.4)

42 (37.2)

71 (62.8)

38 (33.6)

75 (66.4)

No

192 (32.7)

395 (67.3)

197 (33.6)

390 (66.4)

167 (28.4)

420 (71.6)

Intend to smoke if planning pregnancy

      

Yes

20 (42.6)

27 (57.4)

27 (50.9)

26 (49.1)

23 (43.4)

30 (56.6)

No

219 (33.5)

434 (66.5)

321 (30.6)

729 (69.4)

238 (22.7)

812 (77.3)

Intend to smoke if pregnant

      

Yes

23 (54.8)

19 (45.2)

27 (61.4)

17 (38.6)

26 (59.1)

18 (40.9)

No

216 (32.8)

442 (67.2)

321 (30.3)

738 (69.7)

235 (22.2)

824 (77.8)